Chapter Text
So far, Chance has had a pretty unlucky day to say the least.
First of all, he barely had time to wake up and get out of bed before he was thrusted into a round. Second of all, his coin refused to land on heads. And, of course, the cherry on the top of the cake was his gun blowing up on him and finishing him off right on the spot.
Yeah, it had been a bad start.
Since then, he had rotated around the cabin, doing whatever sustained his attention span for the time being. Now, he sat on the chair next to the stairs while Elliot and Two Time chatted on the sofa, half-listening to their conversation as he flipped his coin aimlessly. The other survivors seemed to have all retired to their cabins or were spending time elsewhere. Honestly, Chance had not been paying attention.
They just wanted something interesting to happen. He tried playing darts, but that had gotten boring fast. So did pool. All that was left was engaging in mindless chatter, but not even that could capture his wholehearted attention.
And so, here he was, thinking about whatever crossed his mind and also nothing at all, pretty much fully zoned out in thought.
Just then, the door to the cabin slammed open, causing Chance to startle upright where he sat. He cursed under his breath as his coin almost slipped from his grasp, just barely managing to keep a hand on it. When he looked up, he saw Noob in the door frame, a bright smile on their face.
“Hey guys! Look what I found!” They exclaimed, slightly out of breath but positively beaming.
That’s when Chance finally was struck with the realization that, oh yeah, Noob was carrying something. He finally noticed the strange bundle of fluff in Noob’s arm—an animal, that much was clear. A large one at that, nearly the size of Noob’s torso. And its long ears were pressed against its head—
Holy shit.
That wasn’t just any animal, that was a rabbit. His rabbit.
So many questions suddenly ran rampant in his head, spinning through swiftly like a slot machine. He barely managed to process the fact that Spade was here before Two Time started speaking.
“Ah! A gift from the Spawn!” They proclaimed, standing up from the sofa with their hands clasped together. “A sign of good fortune! A meal for us to feast upon!”
Noob’s eyes widened at that, their hands readjusting to hold the rabbit Spade closer to their chest protectively.
“Y- You can’t do that, they’re a friend!” Noob shot back, taking a step backwards as Elliot watched on.
“Have we ever had any animals around here before?” He asked, eyes narrowing confusedly. “Are we sure it doesn’t have like.. rabies-? Or something?”
Chance blinked a few times. Oh, Telamon, this could not be happening.
“She does not have rabies, thank you very much,” Chance suddenly said, shaking his head. The others turned to look at him, caught off guard by him finally speaking after who knows how long of sitting there silently.
Suddenly, Spade started squirming in Noob’s grasp, spurred on by something like recognition. Noob let out a noise of surprise, grip loosening just enough to allow her to jump out of their arms and safely onto the floor.
Nobody moved for a moment, watching as Spade walked forwards with an air of arrogance towards Chance, small bunny nose twitching. She came up right to the foot of his chair, sitting down with a tilt of her head.
Chance couldn’t help the warm smile that tugged on his lips, hands instinctively reaching down to pick Spade up and hoist her onto his lap.
“Hey, girl,” he murmured softly, carefully petting the fur in between the rabbit’s ears. Her fur was just as soft as the last time he felt it, all that time ago. She was just the same as when he last saw her..
“You ready to leave?”
Chance scoffed from where they stood in the kitchen, scouring through cabinets. “Give me like.. five seconds, ‘Trap,” he shot back, a smile on his face.
The man just frowned back at them, turning to face away from them in exchange for looking at the bland walls instead.
“Oh, relax,” Chance teased, “I’m just tryna find this goddamn rabbit food..”
iTrapped just hummed. “And you couldn’t have done that an hour ago?”
The gambler rolled his eyes. “Nobody’s gonna shoot themselves before you get there, promise,” he retorted back with a wink, one iTrapped couldn’t see through his shades anyway. “Wow, you’re impatient today.”
With a sigh, iTrapped took a seat on the living room couch, keeping his usual stoic posture. His eyes trailed to the carpet, where a fluffy, black bunny padded up to him. The rabbit sat down by his feet, looking him straight in the eyes silently, almost as if it were assessing him silently.
iTrapped narrowed his eyes back at the rabbit, whose nose twitched ever so slightly. Her ears twitched once, before she suddenly padded forward and bit down on his dress pants, tugging with all her tiny might.
“You pest!” iTrapped hissed back under his breath, attempting to kick her away. But the rabbit just nipped at the exposed skin of his ankle instead.
“Spade, stop,” he stressed, swiftly moving his legs away. “Chance, tell your rodent to quit it.”
Chance just cackled where he was by the counter, a bag of pet food in one hand and a bowl in the other. “Aww, she likes you,” they teased, placing the bowl down on the floor.
iTrapped looked at Chance coldly, before averting his gaze back down to the smug-looking rabbit sitting on the edge of the carpet.
“C’mere, Spade!” Chance called out, the sound of tiny pellets clanging against the bowl as he filled it up.
The rabbit gave him one last smug look before scampering back over to the kitchen, starting to eat as Chance let out a sigh of accomplishment. They looked up at iTrapped, raising an eyebrow.
“You good, ‘Trap?” They asked, tilting their head.
iTrapped grit his teeth, before giving Chance a forced smile. “Just fine, Chancey,” he hummed. “I just wish you kept that thing on a leash.”
Chance chuckled, walking towards the couch. “Spade?” He asked with mock offense. “Nah, she’ll be fine. She couldn’t hurt a fly!”
“She tried to rip my pants,” iTrapped murmured in response.
“And you’re fine, aren’t you?” Chance responded, clapping a hand on iTrapped’s back. “Maybe you need to be nicer to her.”
iTrapped bristled at Chance’s words (not the contact, definitely). “Maybe you need to feed her less, she takes up more space on the bed than you.”
Chance’s jaw dropped in faux offense. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!” He shot back. “Don’t insult me or my bunny, excuse you.” Despite what he was saying, his words were paired with a gleeful smile, perhaps at the domestic back and forth.
“Hmph. Fine,” iTrapped murmured, starting to stand as he shrugged off Chance’s hand.
Chance stood up beside him, stretching their arms over their head. “Great,” he smiled. “Let’s head out?”
iTrapped nodded in response, following Chance towards the door, his hand grasping at the air by his side where he knew the Darkheart was still sheathed. Hidden. He gave one more glance behind him, meeting the beady, totally-not-innocent eyes of Spade glaring at him almost knowingly.
With that, the two had turned around and left the apartment.
Chance would never return to see her again.
Well, great. That was the last thing they wanted to be remembering.
“Um.. Chance-?” A sudden voice called out, breaking him out of his thoughts.
Chance blinked a few times, looking up to see everyone staring at him. Oh, wonderful. Even better. He cleared his throat briefly, trying to break the awkward tension.
“What, you’ve never seen a giant rabbit before?” The gambler attempted to joke, cringing slightly at the way his unnatural smile spread. Elliot just looked at him strangely.
“So.. you know this rabbit then?” He asked slowly, almost with a slight hesitance.
Chance took a quick moment to put his poker face back onto his face, all his efforts going into maintaining his usual smirk. “You know it! Her name’s Spade.”
They heard Elliot mumble a small ‘huh” under his breath as Two Time’s manic smile widened.
“Oh, praise the Spawn! For they’ve given us another sign of life from the waking world!” They praised, stepping closer to Chance.
Spade squeaked softly, ears pinned back as she huddled closer to Chance’s chest. He cringed at the crazed look in cultists eyes, choosing to just laugh nervously instead.
“So, wait- th- theyre actually your pet?” Noob asked incredulously. “Does that mean we can keep them?”
Chance flashed them his usual smile. “You bet!”
Meanwhile, Elliot still seemed just as confused as before.
“How does a rabbit even get here? Is that even.. allowed?”
The gambler paused at that. It was a good question, actually. How did Spade get here? His hands stilled where they had been stroking the rabbit’s black fur, brow furrowing.
Knowing what he knew about this place, it was safe to assume most of the survivors here had all been brought here personally or by a much more painful fate. One they’d all learn to adapt to since arriving here.
Had the Spectre brought her here for them? Or had she suffered a similar end as himself?
Nope. No, he’s not even considering that.
Then again, how would Spade have managed without him? The only person who knew of her was him, and if he hadn’t cared enough about Chance, he sure as hell wouldn’t have cared enough to feed his damn rabbit.
“Huh,” Chance murmured softly. “I don’t know, actually.”
Spade nudged his hand, silently asking for more attention, as per usual. He silently continued petting her head, looking down at her beady little eyes.
“What do you say, girl, hm? Wanna tell us how you got here?” He asked, his voice taking on that “pet-owner” tone.
Spade didn’t respond, obviously, nudging their hand again insistently instead.
“Fine, be like that,” he mumbled in return, looking back up at the others.
“I- I didn’t know you had a pet,” Noob said softly, hands playing with the loose threads of their sweater.
Chance chuckled, shifting in his seat. “Guess I didn’t, huh,” he echoed, “Yeah, I got her a few years ago. Won her in a game of blackjack.”
Elliot raised an eyebrow. “Really? Since when did casinos offer giant bunnies as prizes?”
The gambler shrugged. “Since I owned the casino, probably,” he smirked, “But that was a special case, anyway. Lady Luck was smiling down on me then.”
Two Time hummed, suddenly appearing beside Chance, causing them to yelp in surprise. “Perhaps a sign of good fortune.. Yes, I wonder.. Why was the mammal sent here-?” Their hand reached out, slowly approaching Spade’s head.
Instinctively, the rabbit reached forward and nipped at Two Time’s hand, tiny teeth meeting flesh.
The cultist recoiled, eyes widening. “Aggressive vermin!” They exclaimed, “You’re lucky I don’t feast upon you this instant!”
Chance placed a hand on Spade’s head, drawing her closer to himself as Elliot stood up from the couch and carefully moved to intervene.
“Hey, let’s all be chill, okay?” He said, exhaustion lacing his tone as he put his hands on his hips. “Two Time, why don’t you see if anyone needs help in the kitchen, alright?”
They seemed to peek up a bit at that. “Yes, pizza man, I will warn them of the vile creature! Maybe they will appreciate the sentiment!” With that, they hurriedly turned and rushed away.
Elliot sighed, shaking his head as Noob opened their mouth to speak. “I should probably go make sure they don’t accidentally, um, rile everyone up, I guess,” they mumbled meekly, giving the two of them a small wave before turning to follow the cultist.
With that, it left just Elliot and Chance in the main room together.
“So,” Elliot said after a moment of silence. “You okay?”
Chance paused at the question, his mask falling for a brief moment out of surprise before he quickly fixed his expression.
“I’m all good, pal,” the gambler chimed, smirking. “Couldn’t be better!”
Elliot gave him a brief look of.. concern? Maybe disbelief? Either way, he didn’t push it, just frowning slightly.
“Don’t worry ‘bout me, Elli,” Chance added for good measure, tone more sympathetic. “Seriously.”
The other man just sighed, hands falling from his hips. “Well, if you ever need anything..”
Chance smiled at him in return. “Yeah, yeah, I gotcha,” he responded.
Spade huffed slightly where she sat on his lap, her eyes now closed. She seemed to have fallen asleep at some point. Elliot hummed at the sight.
“We’re gonna have to figure out what to do about all… this,” he mumbled, “do we even have food for her?”
Oh. Yeah, that was important.
“Uhhh..” Chance trailed off slowly, “maybe the grass outside..? They eat that, right?”
Elliot raised an eyebrow, giving Chance a look that very much said you cannot be serious before sighing. “Pretty sure that’s all fake, but maybe. We might have some spare carrots in the fridge, too.”
“Great thinkin’,” Chance huffed, standing up from his chair with his hands still gently cradled around Spade. He opened his mouth to speak before being cut off with a slight yawn.
“I guess I’ll be off to bed,” the gambler mumbled instead, offering Elliot a faint smile.
“You do that. I’m gonna check to make sure the kitchen hasn’t exploded,” Elliot chimed back with a smile. “Sleep well!”
With a soft squeeze to his shoulder, Elliot turned and started walking off elsewhere.
Chance just sighed, clutching Spade a little closer as they made their way out the front door and entered the outside world. If you could even call it that.
The forest outside the cabin was stuck in a permanent fixture of darkness. There wasn’t any wind, just the stale feeling of air that felt so different and unnatural that Chance felt sick if he thought about it too much.
For someone who spent their whole life cooped up inside the artificial, bright realm of the casino, he had never longed more for the scent of fresh air. Chance shook his head out of those thoughts. It wasn’t something that he should waste time lingering on.
Slowly, he made his way into his cabin, quietly opening the door so as to not disturb Spade asleep against his chest. The room was empty, left just like it was this morning. In all honesty, they were surprised that Taph, their roommate, wasn’t here yet. Probably hanging out with the other admins, or something, if he had to guess.
With a sigh, Chance made his way towards the bed, carefully putting Spade down right on the edge. As he took off his shades and fedora, placing them on the dresser beside his bed, he had half a mind to hope someone told Taph about, y'know, the giant bunny now sharing their room. Oh well.
After changing out of his suit and into pajamas, he flopped onto the bed with a tired huff.
Today was not supposed to be this exhausting. Sure, the rounds always left him with the lingering soreness, but this felt more bone deep. Mental.
Chance loved Spade, that much was true. She was the rabbit he had rightfully won (fair and square) and raised as a companion. A friend—
—But he couldn’t help the other memories that intruded against his will. Memories of cold words and colder touches, flashing lights of the casino mixing with the quick flash of a gun—
Nope. Absolutely not, he was not going there. Not tonight.
His eyes landed back on Spade, curled up comfortably at the foot of their bed. A messed up part of him wondered if maybe she had met the same fate as him. Was iTrapped really that cruel? He never seemed to like her before..
That didn’t add up, though. She would’ve joined him a lot sooner otherwise. In fact, if she had been left uncared for, even for a week or so, she would’ve ended up here. Now he was even more confused.
Had he really taken care of Spade? After stabbing him in cold blood (literally), it seemed almost comical to imagine such a thing. The thought of the man returning to their apartment, hands stained with blood as Spade just sat there, wondering if her owner would ever come back. Was that how it had gone down—?
A creeping, twisting feeling arose in Chance’s gut, their throat closing up momentarily. Thinking about the fact that the world had just moved on without him, without all of them, made him feel ill.
With a sigh, Chance forced himself to snap out of it, shaking out of his thoughts. They pulled the blanket further up over themselves, staring at the ceiling. Despite how tired he had felt mere moments ago, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to sleep anymore.
He wasn’t sure how long he laid there restlessly, but at some point, his brain finally seemed to quiet as he faded into unconsciousness, curled up in bed with cold thoughts of iTrapped on the brain.